Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE: ARI) today announced the Company has commenced an underwritten public offering of 8,000,000 shares of common stock. The Company expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,200,000 additional shares of common stock.

ARI intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to acquire the Company's target assets, which include commercial first mortgage loans, commercial mortgage-backed securities, subordinate financings and other commercial real estate-related debt investments and for general corporate purposes.